Nip At Your Nose
by JinMukang
Summary: Where did the curious phrase "Jack Frost will nip at your nose" come from? How could it exist if no one had ever seen the Spirit of Winter? For it to exist, someone had to believe in him at least once right? This is my take on it in a single one shot. Enjoy.


**Just a simple one shot idea I had floating around my head for a few days now. I promised myself I wouldn't write anything other than my fan fiction I'm already working on, but hey, one shots don't really count.**

 **Disclaimer: it should be obvious…**

 **Please enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it :p**

* * *

Centuries ago, there was a baby in a box. The box was left on a doorstep of an ancient looking orphanage. The wind blew and swirled around her as huge snowflakes floated gently down to cover the earth in a blanket of sparkling beauty.

Well, it wasn't beautiful to the lonely babe. To her, it was just cold.

She was wrapped in a single ragged blanket covered in moth holes that had a suspicious smell hanging off of them. She would never know it, but that single blanket was the only blanket her mother had.

She cried at the doorstep while she stared at the sky. Fat tears swelled in her eyes and her sobs became desperate. She was so scared, so alone, so _cold_. She didn't know what was going on, and no one was around to tell her.

Then, a certain snowflake that seemed different from the rest gently fluttered towards her. Her brown eyes followed the flake until she had to go cross eyed when it landed on her red nose.

The effect was instant, and suddenly the baby was no longer scared. She was still cold but it didn't seem to matter. She also knew that she somehow was not alone.

A figure fell from the sky and landed besides her, she didn't get a good look at him until he moved into the light of the full moon. It was a curious sight indeed, a boy in his late teens with hair whiter than the snow, skin paler than ice, and eyes as blue as the winter sky. She instantly trusted the boy, she had no reason to fear him.

"Hey kid," he said in a quiet laugh. He smiled which caused his skin to wrinkle at the corners of his eyes, which gave him a caring and loving look. "It's too cold for a babe to be out like this. Unless someone warns them, the orphanage won't know you're here until morning, and you'll freeze before then, so I brought you a present."

He reached into a small bag he carried with him a pulled out a fluffy blue blanket. The baby smiled as he carefully wrapped her in it. He made sure not to directly touch her as he bundled her up, he didn't want to make her colder than she already was.

"There," he said to his finished work. The baby was back in her box but wrapped in the blanket so many times that she looked three times bigger than what she really was. Now that she was warm, she found herself slowly seeping into a peaceful rest. Before she did so, the boy kneeled down besides her.

"Now, make sure you bundle up from now on, okay? Or I'll nip at your nose again with one of my snowflakes." As he said that he gently poked the baby's nose, she giggled and his heart filled with joy at the noise. "Try to remember me okay? The names Jack Frost."

Then without another word, he grabbed his staff and let the wind carry him away into the night.

The baby watched the curious boy go and she remained staring at the sky until the sun showed it's face in the horizon. She only removed her gaze when the orphanage door opened. The Mother made a screeching noise when she almost tripped over the poor babe, but then she quickly gathered the child into her arms. Out of impulse she looked around for the one who left the baby, but gave up after a few moments. She looked down at the baby and smiled warmly, then she lead her into her new life.

* * *

 _15 years later_

The baby grew up into a fine young woman. She helped around the orphanage in any way she could. She still had her blue blanket, and she always told herself it was a gift from her parents before they gave her up. She would never know who really gave it to her though.

"Ana! I want to play outside!" A little boy by the name of Mike said to the girl. His face was pressed against the window and he started at the snow in complete wonder.

Ana sighed, knowing that if she told the eight year old 'no', she'd never hear the end of it from him.

"Well, okay," she said slowly.

Mike made a nice between a victorious yell and an excited squeal then made a mad dash towards the front door. She groaned and hurried to grab him by the arm.

Before he could complain she slipped a wool hat above his head. "Make sure you bundle up, or Jack Frost will nip at your nose," she said, poking his nose.

Mike wiggled his nose and a confused expression crossed his face. "Who's Jack Frost?"

Ana frowned, and pondered for a moment. "Curious isn't it," she said with a laugh. "I don't seem to remember."

The boy shrugged, gave her a hug, then ran out of the front door into the falling snow.

In the years to come Ana continued to talk about the mysterious Jack Frost and what he'd do to your sniffer if you weren't dressed warm enough. Soon the whole orphanage was using the phrase, then it spread to the adopted families then to their own children, then to the children's friends. It continued to spread far and wide until it covered the whole world in the present day.

The phrase was so widely used, but no one really knew who the mysterious Jack Frost was, or what 'nipping' at the nose really meant. They just said it.

Every time a parent said it to a child, they never noticed a certain white haired, blue eyed boy sitting on their roof top smiling. He knew no one saw him, but for now, this was enough.


End file.
